Integrated crossflow blower motor apparatus and system

ABSTRACT

Some embodiments of an apparatus and system are described for a crossflow blower motor. An apparatus may comprise one or more motors operative to control a crossflow blower. The one or more motors may comprise one or more stator assemblies having a stator coil and a bent stator. The one or more motors may be configured to control a crossflow blower arranged to generate a flow of air in a direction substantially perpendicular to an axis of rotation of the crossflow blower. Other embodiments are described.

BACKGROUND

Modern computing systems generate heat during operation. The heat mayaffect certain platform components of a system, and is thereforegenerally required to be dissipated or removed from the system. Heatgenerated by the computing system may be limited or reduced usingvarious thermal management techniques and/or heat dissipationtechniques. For example, heat generated by a processor may be dissipatedby a heat exchanger. Heat transfer through a heat exchanger may beenhanced by creating a flow of air using a fan or blower. Further,various platform-level cooling devices may be implemented in conjunctionwith the fan or blower to enhance heat dissipation, such as heat pipes,heat spreaders, heat sinks, vents, phase change materials orliquid-based coolants.

Traditional blowers used in portable computing systems generate a flowof air from an inlet parallel to the axis of rotation (e.g. the axialdirection) to an outlet substantially perpendicular to the axis ofrotation or from an inlet parallel to the axis of rotation to an outletthat is also parallel to the axis of rotation. Traditional fans, such asaxial fans and centrifugal blowers, also include a large volume in thecenter of the impeller where a motor is located. These and other factorsmay be problematic in notebook computers, for example, because thesetraditional fans require inlet and/or outlet gaps above and/or below thefan housing and also require additional space to accommodate the motor.Because of the size constraints of notebook computers and other mobilecomputing devices, the cooling capacity of traditional systems isthermally limited by the size of fan and motor that can be accommodatedinside a notebook computer enclosure while allowing sufficient space forinlet gaps and a motor above and/or below the fan housing. Furthermore,the form factor of notebook computers and other mobile computing devicescontinues to decrease in size, resulting in less available space forcooling components. Consequently, a need exists for improved coolingtechniques mobile computing devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a first apparatus or system.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a second apparatus or system.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a third apparatus or system.

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a fourth apparatus or system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments are generally directed to techniques designed to improvecooling in mobile computing devices, such as notebook and ultrathinnotebook computers. Various embodiments provide techniques that includea crossflow blower that creates a side-in, side-out airflow patternwithin a mobile computing device enclosure. The creation of a side-in,side-out airflow pattern eliminates the need to allow for inlet and/oroutlet gaps above and/or below traditional fan housings, which in turnallows for the creation of thinner notebook enclosures having fans withtaller axial heights. For example, a fan having an increased rotor oraxial height compared to a traditional cooling fan may be used in thesame system if a side-in, side-out airflow pattern is utilized. The useof a taller fan allows for improved cooling capabilities, increasedsystem performance and improved acoustics. Some embodiments also providefor an apparatus and system to control or drive a crossflow blower. Forexample, some embodiments may include one or more motors operative tocontrol the crossflow blower, wherein the one or more motors include oneor more stator assemblies having a stator coil and a bent stator. Otherembodiments are described and claimed.

The arrangement of the one or more motors, the crossflow blower andother described components may be varied for any particularimplementation or system. Furthermore, it should be understood thatreference throughout to a mobile computing device or a notebook computermay include any type or form of mobile computing device. For example,the described embodiments may include a notebook, laptop, mini laptop,ultrathin notebook, netbook, tablet PC, PDA, mobile phone, smart phoneor any other computing device in which cooling in a enclosure withlimited space is desired. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Embodiments may include one or more elements. An element may compriseany structure arranged to perform certain operations. Each element maybe implemented as hardware, software, or any combination thereof, asdesired for a given set of design parameters or performance constraints.Although embodiments may be described with particular elements incertain arrangements by way of example, embodiments may include othercombinations of elements in alternate arrangements.

It is worthy to note that any reference to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrases “in oneembodiment” and “in an embodiment” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of an apparatus. FIG. 1 illustrates ablock diagram of an apparatus 100. Apparatus 100 may comprise a mobilecomputing device or notebook computer having an internal enclosureheight of 8.0 mm or less in some embodiments. As shown in FIG. 1,apparatus 100 comprises multiple elements, such as enclosure 101,crossflow blower 106, motor(s) 108, keyboard 111, heat sink 118 anddisplay 120. The embodiments, however, are not limited to the elementsshown in this figure. In various embodiments, crossflow blower 106 maycomprise a fan or blower arranged to create a side-in, side-out flow ofair through the blower in a direction perpendicular to the axis ofrotation of the blower. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Motor(s) 108 may comprise any suitable electric motor capable ofrotating crossflow blower 106 to create a flow of air in someembodiments. In various embodiments, motor(s) 108 may comprise an ACmotor, brushed DC motor or brushless DC motor. For example, motor 108may comprise a DC motor powered by an internal or external power sourceof apparatus 100. In some embodiments, motor 108 may comprise atip-drive motor. The size, location within enclosure 101, and locationwith respect to crossflow blower 106 may be selected based on the sizeand performance constraints of a particular implementation and arediscussed further with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

In various embodiments, the enclosure 101 may have any number ofdifferent internal heights, such as a first internal height 112 and asecond internal height 114. As shown in FIG. 1, crossflow blower 106 andmotor(s) 108 may be selected to have axial or vertical heightssubstantially similar to an internal height of enclosure 101 to maximizecooling capabilities. Other heights may be used and still fall withinthe described embodiments. Furthermore, it should be understood thatadequate space between the crossflow blower 106 and the internalsurfaces of the enclosure 101 should be provided such that the crossflowblower 106 does not contact the internal surfaces of the enclosure 101when it is operated. In various embodiments the surface features of theareas surrounding the crossflow blower 106 may be configured to minimizeleakage and minimize drag on the crossflow blower 106. For example, aside or wall of enclosure 101 may be used, in some embodiments, as partof a housing for the crossflow blower 106.

The motor(s) 108 may be positioned outside a radius of the crossflowblower 106, in some embodiments. In various embodiments, positioning themotors(s) outside a radius of the crossflow blower 106 may allow for themotor(s) 108 and the crossflow blower 106 to have a height that isapproximately equal to an internal height of the enclosure 101. In thismanner, the axial height of the crossflow blower 106 may besubstantially maximized by the combination of crossflow blower 106 andmotor(s) 108. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

FIG. 2 illustrates an apparatus 200. Apparatus 200 may comprise acrossflow blower assembly 200. Crossflow blower assembly 200 may be thesame or similar to crossflow blower 106 and motor(s) 108 of FIG. 1 insome embodiments. In various embodiments, FIG. 2 illustrates a crosssectional view of a crossflow blower assembly 200 in order to illustratecertain details of the crossflow blower assembly 200. Other embodimentsare described and claimed.

In some embodiments, crossflow blower assembly 200 may comprise ahousing 202, a base plate 204, a bearing 206, an impeller 208, a magnet210, impeller blades 212 and one or more stator assemblies 214A and 214Bwhich may include stators 216A and 216B and a stator coils 218A and218B. While a limited number and type of components are shown forpurposes of illustration, it should be understood that any number, typeor arrangement of components could be used and still fall within thedescribed embodiments.

Housing 202 may comprise an enclosure arranged to mount or otherwisecontain or stabilize a crossflow blower and one or more motors in someembodiments. In various embodiments, housing 202 may comprise a plasticor metal component configured to accommodate impeller 208 and statorassemblies 214A and 214B, for example. In some embodiments, the housing202 may comprise a plastic component, such as an injection moldedplastic component, that provides an inlet, outlet and flow managementfeatures for the crossflow blower assembly 200.

In various embodiments, housing 202 may further include base plate 204.Base plate 204 may comprise, for example, a metal base plate that isattached or coupled to housing 202. In some embodiments, base plate 204is configured as a metal base plate to decrease the thickness of thebase plate 204 and to decrease the overall height of crossflow blowerassembly 200. For example, a metal base plate 204 may be desirable as itmay retain better stiffness and rigidity required to provide adequatesupport for crossflow blower assembly 200 than a plastic base plate ofthe same thickness. In various embodiments, base plate 204 may comprisea plastic base plate that forms a contiguous intenerated structure alongwith housing 202, or is otherwise coupled or attached to housing 202. Insome embodiments, a side, wall or other portion of a mobile computingdevice enclosure (not shown) may form the top or lid of the crossflowblower assembly, or an additional top plate may be configured as part ofcrossflow blower assembly 200. Other embodiments are described andclaimed.

Bearing 206 may be configured to attach impeller 208 to base plate204/housing 202 in some embodiments. For example, bearing 206 maycomprise a device configured to allow constrained relative motionbetween two or more parts, typically rotation or linear movement. Insome embodiments, for example, bearing 206 may allow for movement orrotation of impeller 208 around a fixed point of attachment on baseplate 204.

In various embodiments, crossflow blower assembly 200 may include animpeller 208 with a plurality of impeller blades 212. Impeller 208 andimpeller blades 212 may be configured to increase the pressure and/orflow of air in some embodiments. Impeller blades 212 may be any size,shape, number or configuration suitable for inducing the flow of air. Insome embodiments, the impeller blades 212 may be spaced unevenly toimprove the acoustic characteristics of crossflow blower assembly 200.In various embodiments, the number of blades may be selected to reduceresonant acoustic noise created by the crossflow blower assembly 200 ina predefined frequency range or feathering or notching of the impellerblades 212 may be utilized to reduce coherent noise production.Furthermore, passive or active noise cancellation components mayoptionally be included along with a crossflow blower assembly 200 toreduce resonant noise generated by the impeller 208 and impeller blades212 in some embodiments.

Impeller 208 and impeller blades 212 may comprise separate components insome embodiments. For example, impeller blades 212 may comprise aninjection-molded component that may be ultrasonically welded,heat-staked or otherwise coupled to impeller 208. Impeller 208, invarious embodiments, may comprise a metal backing steel or plate thatmay be a stamped steel plate having a reinforced or joggled perimeterconfigured to add stiffness to the thin material as well as providingthe backing steel for magnet 210. In some embodiments, impeller 208 mayinclude a conical formation in the center of the steel plate to addstiffness to the thin metal part. Impeller 208 may be formed, stamped orarranged to provide an interference fit for bearing 206 and magnet 210in some embodiments. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Magnet 210 may comprise any suitable material or object that produces amagnetic field in some embodiments. For example, magnet 210 may comprisea permanent magnet or any other object made from a material that ismagnetized and creates its own persistent magnetic field. In variousembodiments, magnet 210 may be coupled or bonded to impeller 208 orco-molded to impeller 208. For example, magnet 210 may comprise acontiguous permanent magnet, such as a rubber magnet, running orarranged around a circumference of impeller 208. In various embodiments,magnet 210 may comprise a magnet having a thickness of approximately 1.0mm.

In some embodiments, magnet 210 may include alternating magnetic poles.For example, magnet 210 may include alternating north (N) and (S) poleswherein the sizing and spacing of the alternating poles is selected toaccommodate a particular implementation. In various embodiments, forexample, the size and spacing of the alternating magnetic poles may beselected to correspond to at least one dimension of a stator 216A or216B of stator assembly 214A or 214B. In some embodiments, eachalternating magnetic pole may have a width that is substantially similarto a width of one or more of stators 216A or 216B.

Back plate 204 and/or impeller/backing steel 208 may be arranged,selected or configured to contain or isolate a magnetic field in someembodiments. For example, the Back plate 204 and/or impeller/backingsteel 208 may comprise a steel material configured or selected toisolate one or more of the magnetic fields generated by magnet 210 orstator assemblies 214A or 214B. Other embodiments are described andclaimed.

In some embodiments, stator assemblies 214A and 214B may comprise motorsthat are operative to control the crossflow blower assembly 200. Invarious embodiments, each stator assembly 214A and 214B includes astator 216A or 216B and a stator coil 218A or 218B. For purposes ofclarity and not limitation, stator assembly 214A is described herein. Itshould be understood that stator assemblies 214A and 214B may includethe same or similar components, or the stator assemblies 214A and 214Bmay include different components selected to accommodate any particularimplementation of a crossflow blower assembly 200.

In various embodiments, stator 216A may comprise a bent stator. Forexample, stator 216A may comprise a series of stamped ferromagnetic orelectrical conductive laminates that are formed into approximately aninety-degree bend. While various embodiments are described as includinga ninety-degree or right-angle bend for the bent stator, it should beunderstood than any suitable bend or angle could be used and still fallwithin the described embodiments. Stator 216A may comprise, for example,a first portion 220 that is arranged to be substantially perpendicularto the axis of rotation of the crossflow blower and a second contiguousportion 222 that is arranged to be substantially parallel to the axis ofrotation of the crossflow blower. In some embodiments, second portion222 may extend vertically in the Z direction as shown in FIG. 2.

In some embodiments, stator 216A may comprise a stator having two ormore portions, wherein one or more portions of the stator extend on aplane different than a X-Y plane that is substantially perpendicular toan axis of rotation of the crossflow blower. In various embodiments, thestator may comprise two or more portions of conductive material that arecoupled together and wherein the stator coil 218A is arranged around theone or more portions of the stator 216A that extend on a plane differentthan the X-Y plane (e.g. portion 222, for example). For example, two ormore portions of material may be screwed, welded, coupled or otherwisefastened together to form stator 216A. In some embodiments, the one ormore portions of the stator 216A that extend on a plane different thanthe X-Y plane are configured to extend on an angle away from the X-Yplane in a direction of the axis of rotation of the crossflow blower.While shown as a ninety-degree angle in some embodiments, it should beunderstood than any angle away from the X-Y plane could be used andstill fall within the described embodiments. Other embodiments aredescribed and claimed.

The stator assembly 214A may comprise an insulation layer between thebent stator 216A and the stator coil 218A in some embodiments. Theinsulation layer may comprise a material selected and arranged toprevent the stator coil 218A from creating an electrical short in someembodiments.

In some embodiments, the stator coil 218A may comprise one or moremagnetic coils wound on or around a vertical or second portion 222 ofthe bent stator 216A. In various embodiments, the stator coils 218A arearranged around the second portion 222 of the bent stator to generate amagnetic field in a direction substantially parallel to the axis ofrotation of the crossflow blower. For example, the magnet fieldgenerated by the stator assembly 214A may extend on a plane parallel tothe second portion 222 of stator 218A. In some embodiments, the firstportion 220 of the bent stator 218A is arranged to direct the magneticfield in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotationof the crossflow blower. For example, the first portion 220 of the bentstator 218A may direct or re-direct the magnetic field toward magnet 210and impeller 208. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

In various embodiments, placing the stator coils 218A on the vertical orangled portion (e.g. second portion 222) of the bent stator 216A mayallow for a larger coil volume than would otherwise be possible if thestator 216A were straight. For example, if the crossflow blower assembly200 is configured to fit within a 6.0 mm height envelope, and a straightstator is used, the maximum thickness of the stator coils would belimited by the height envelope of 6.0 mm. By way of contrast, by using abent stator 218A, the thickness or size of the stator coil 218A can beexpanded (e.g. in the X-Y direction) to accommodate a larger magneticcoil volume. In various embodiments, the stator coil 218A may have afirst dimension in direction substantially parallel to an axis ofrotation of the impeller (e.g. the Z direction) and a second dimensionin a direction substantially perpendicular to an axis of rotation of theimpeller (e.g. the X-Y directions) and, in some embodiments, the seconddimension may be larger than the first dimension. Other embodiments aredescribed and claimed.

The motors/stator assemblies 214A and 214B may comprise tip-drive motorsin some embodiments. A tip-drive motor may comprise a magneticallytip-driven motor arranged such that the motor hub does not block orsubstantially does not block the primary airflow path for crossflowblower assembly 200. In various embodiments, the one or more motors maycomprise a two-slot single-phase direct current (DC) brushless motor ora three-slot three-phase DC brushless motor.

In some embodiments, the placement of stator assemblies 214A and 214Bat, near or outside the outer radius of the impeller 208 may allow forthe impeller 208 to be spun from near its perimeter rather than from acenter point as in traditional fans. In various embodiments, thisconfiguration may allow for a more favorable positioning of the motorssuch that interference with airflow is reduced compared to centralaxially driving rotors. In some embodiments, the one or more motors maycomprise two motors arranged on opposing sides of impeller 208 of thecrossflow blower assembly 200 approximately one hundred and eightydegrees apart, as shown in FIG. 2 and further described in FIG. 3 below.Other embodiments are described and claimed.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of an apparatus 300. Apparatus 300 maycomprise, for example, a crossflow blower assembly 300 which may be thesame or similar to crossflow blower assembly 200 of FIG. 2. For purposesof clarity, like components are numbered similarly throughout. Crossflowblower assembly 300 may include a plurality of components, includinghousing 302, bearing 306, impeller 308, impeller blades 312 and statorassemblies 314A and 314B which may include stators 316A and 316B andstator coils 318A and 318B. While a limited number and arrangement ofcomponents are shown for purposes of illustration, it should beunderstood that any number, type or arrangement of components could beused and still fall within the described embodiments.

Crossflow blower assembly 300 may include a housing 302 having an inlet340 and an outlet 342. In some embodiments, the inlet 340 may be largerthan the outlet 342, the inlet 340 and outlet 342 may be substantiallythe same size, or the inlet 340 may be smaller than the outlet 342. Invarious embodiments, the inlet 340 may include rounded corners toenhance the airflow and pressure created by crossflow blower assembly300. The precise arrangement of the inlet 340 and outlet 342 may beselected based on the desired pressure and flow for a particularimplementation of crossflow blower assembly 300. Other embodiments aredescribed and claimed.

In various embodiments, air may enter or be drawn in through inlet 340and may exit or be forced out through outlet 342. The positioning ofinlet 340 and outlet 342 and the direction of airflows may be differentthan that shown in FIG. 3 and still fall within the describedembodiments.

Motors/stator assemblies 314A and 314B may be contained or mountedwithin housing 302 in some embodiments. In some embodiments,motors/stator assemblies 314A and 314B may be the same or similar thosedescribed above with reference to FIG. 2. In various embodiments, one ormore of motors/stator assemblies 314A and 314B may be positioned in apredetermined recirculation zone of the crossflow blower assembly 300.For example, motors/stator assembly 314B may be placed at a positionwithin housing 302 that has been determined to be a position where avortex is created when air is flowing through the housing 302. Byplacing the motors/stator assemblies 314B at this position, the amountthat the motor interferes with the airflow may be minimized and themotor may help to anchor or hold the vortex in place to increaseperformance of the crossflow blower assembly

While a limited number, type and arrangement of crossflow blowerassemblies and motors are shown for purposes of illustration, it shouldbe understood than any number of blowers and/or motors could be used andstill fall within the described embodiments. The above-describedembodiments may be used to improve airflow in mobile computing devices,ultrathin notebooks or other devices having internal heights of 8.0 mmor less. In some embodiments, an internal height of 8.0 mm maycorrespond to a notebook having an exterior thickness of 0.5-0.8 inches,for example. In various embodiments, the tip-drive motors and crossflowblower assemblies described herein may be configured to fit within a 6.0mm enclosure. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an exemplary system embodiment. In particular,FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a system 400, which may include variouselements. For instance, FIG. 4 shows that system 400 may include aprocessor 402, a chipset 404, an input/output (I/O) device 406, a randomaccess memory (RAM) (such as dynamic RAM (DRAM)) 408, and a read onlymemory (ROM) 410, and various platform components 414 (e.g., a fan, acrossflow blower, a heat sink, DTM system, cooling system, housing,vents, and so forth). These elements may be implemented in hardware,software, firmware, or any combination thereof. The embodiments,however, are not limited to these elements.

In particular, the platform components 414 may include a cooling systemimplementing various crossflow blower and motor techniques. The coolingsystem may be sized for the system 400, and may include any coolingelements designed to perform heat dissipation, such as heat pipes, heatlinks, heat transfers, heat spreaders, vents, fans, blowers, crossflowblowers and liquid-based coolants.

As shown in FIG. 4, I/O device 406, RAM 408, and ROM 410 are coupled toprocessor 402 by way of chipset 404. Chipset 404 may be coupled toprocessor 402 by a bus 412. Accordingly, bus 412 may include multiplelines.

Processor 402 may be a central processing unit comprising one or moreprocessor cores and may include any number of processors having anynumber of processor cores. The processor 402 may include any type ofprocessing unit, such as, for example, CPU, multi-processing unit, areduced instruction set computer (RISC), a processor that have apipeline, a complex instruction set computer (CISC), digital signalprocessor (DSP), and so forth.

Although not shown, the system 400 may include various interfacecircuits, such as an Ethernet interface and/or a Universal Serial Bus(USB) interface, and/or the like. In some exemplary embodiments, the I/Odevice 406 may comprise one or more input devices connected to interfacecircuits for entering data and commands into the system 400. Forexample, the input devices may include a keyboard, mouse, touch screen,track pad, track ball, isopoint, a voice recognition system, and/or thelike. Similarly, the I/O device 406 may comprise one or more outputdevices connected to the interface circuits for outputting informationto an operator. For example, the output devices may include one or moredisplays, printers, speakers, and/or other output devices, if desired.For example, one of the output devices may be a display. The display maybe a cathode ray tube (CRTs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), or anyother type of display.

The system 400 may also have a wired or wireless network interface toexchange data with other devices via a connection to a network. Thenetwork connection may be any type of network connection, such as anEthernet connection, digital subscriber line (DSL), telephone line,coaxial cable, etc. The network may be any type of network, such as theInternet, a telephone network, a cable network, a wireless network, apacket-switched network, a circuit-switched network, and/or the like.

Numerous specific details have been set forth herein to provide athorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be understood bythose skilled in the art, however, that the embodiments may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-knownoperations, components and circuits have not been described in detail soas not to obscure the embodiments. It can be appreciated that thespecific structural and functional details disclosed herein may berepresentative and do not necessarily limit the scope of theembodiments.

Various embodiments may be implemented using hardware elements, softwareelements, or a combination of both. Examples of hardware elements mayinclude processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g.,transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integratedcircuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmablelogic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmablegate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips,microchips, chip sets, and so forth. Examples of software may includesoftware components, programs, applications, computer programs,application programs, system programs, machine programs, operatingsystem software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines,subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces,application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code,computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values,symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodimentis implemented using hardware elements and/or software elements may varyin accordance with any number of factors, such as desired computationalrate, power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input datarates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and otherdesign or performance constraints.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. These terms are not intendedas synonyms for each other. For example, some embodiments may bedescribed using the terms “connected” and/or “coupled” to indicate thattwo or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact witheach other. The term “coupled,” however, may also mean that two or moreelements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet stillco-operate or interact with each other.

Some embodiments may be implemented, for example, using amachine-readable or computer-readable medium or article which may storean instruction, a set of instructions or computer executable code that,if executed by a machine or processor, may cause the machine orprocessor to perform a method and/or operations in accordance with theembodiments. Such a machine may include, for example, any suitableprocessing platform, computing platform, computing device, processingdevice, computing system, processing system, computer, processor, or thelike, and may be implemented using any suitable combination of hardwareand/or software. The machine-readable medium or article may include, forexample, any suitable type of memory unit, memory device, memoryarticle, memory medium, storage device, storage article, storage mediumand/or storage unit, for example, memory, removable or non-removablemedia, erasable or non-erasable media, writeable or re-writeable media,digital or analog media, hard disk, floppy disk, Compact Disk Read OnlyMemory (CD-ROM), Compact Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact DiskRewriteable (CD-RW), optical disk, magnetic media, magneto-opticalmedia, removable memory cards or disks, various types of DigitalVersatile Disk (DVD), a tape, a cassette, or the like. In variousembodiments, the medium may comprise a non-transitory medium. Theinstructions may include any suitable type of code, such as source code,compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamiccode, encrypted code, and the like, implemented using any suitablehigh-level, low-level, object-oriented, visual, compiled and/orinterpreted programming language.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, it may be appreciated that termssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” or thelike, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computingsystem, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and/ortransforms data represented as physical quantities (e.g., electronic)within the computing system's registers and/or memories into other datasimilarly represented as physical quantities within the computingsystem's memories, registers or other such information storage,transmission or display devices. The embodiments are not limited in thiscontext.

It should be noted that the methods described herein do not have to beexecuted in the order described, or in any particular order. Moreover,various activities described with respect to the methods identifiedherein can be executed in serial or parallel fashion.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated toachieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodimentsshown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations orvariations of various embodiments. It is to be understood that the abovedescription has been made in an illustrative fashion, and not arestrictive one. Combinations of the above embodiments, and otherembodiments not specifically described herein will be apparent to thoseof skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. Thus, thescope of various embodiments includes any other applications in whichthe above compositions, structures, and methods are used.

It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided tocomply with 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allowthe reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure.It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used tointerpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, inthe foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various featuresare grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to beinterpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodimentsrequire more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather,as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter that lies inless than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus thefollowing claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description,with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment.In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used asthe plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and“wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,” “second,” and“third,” etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to imposenumerical requirements on their objects.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a crossflowblower arranged to generate incoming and exhaust flows of air in adirection substantially perpendicular to an axis of rotation of thecrossflow blower; and one or more motors arranged to control thecrossflow blower, the one or more motors comprising: a bent statorhaving a first portion and a second portion, the first portionsubstantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the crossflowblower and the second portion substantially parallel to the axis ofrotation of the crossflow blower; and a stator coil, the stator coilarranged to encircle at least part of the second portion of the bentstator to generate a magnetic field in a direction substantiallyparallel to the axis of rotation of the crossflow blower, the firstportion of the bent stator to direct the magnetic field in a directionsubstantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the crossflowblower.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising: a plurality ofpermanent magnets arranged along a circumference of an impeller of thecrossflow blower, each of the plurality of permanent magnets havingalternating magnetic poles.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein one ormore of the alternating magnetic poles have a dimension substantiallysimilar to a dimension of the bent stator.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1,comprising: a housing; an impeller having one or more impeller blades;and one or more bearings to couple the impeller to the housing.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 4, comprising: an integrated metal back platearranged as a body of the impeller, wherein the one or more impellerblades are coupled to the metal back plate; and a permanent magnetcoupled to the metal back plate, wherein the metal back plate isarranged to substantially contain a magnet field.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 1, at least one of the one or more motors positioned outside anouter perimeter of one or more impeller blades of the crossflow blower.7. The apparatus of claim 1, at least one of the one or more motorscomprise a tip-drive motor, a two-slot single-phase direct current (DC)brushless motor, or a three-slot three-phase DC brushless motor.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 1, comprising an additional bent stator arranged onsubstantially opposing sides of an impeller blade of the crossflowblower from the bent stator, of the additional bent stator comprising anadditional stator coil, the stator coil and the additional stator coilarranged outside an outer perimeter of the impeller blade.
 9. A systemcomprising: electronics for a mobile computing device; a crossflowblower arranged to generate incoming and exhaust flows of air in adirection substantially perpendicular to an axis of rotation of thecrossflow blower to cool the electronics; and one or more motorscomprising: a bent stator having a first portion and a second portion,the first portion substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation ofthe crossflow blower and the second portion substantially parallel tothe axis of rotation of the crossflow blower; and a stator coil, thestator coil arranged to encircle at least part of the second portion ofthe bent stator to generate a magnetic field in a directionsubstantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the crossflow blower,the first portion of the bent stator to direct the magnetic field in adirection substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of thecrossflow blower.
 10. The system of claim 9, at least one of the one ormore motors positioned outside an outer perimeter of one or moreimpeller blades of the crossflow blower.
 11. The system of claim 9, atleast one of the one or more motors comprise a tip-drive motor, atwo-slot single-phase direct current (DC) brushless motor, or athree-slot three-phase DC brushless motor.
 12. The system of claim 9,comprising an additional bent stator arranged on substantially opposingsides of an impeller blade of the crossflow blower from the bent stator,of the additional bent stator comprising an additional stator coil, thestator coil and the additional stator coil arranged outside an outerperimeter of the impeller blade.